Zengid dynasty

The Zengid dynasty was a Muslim Oghuz Turkish dynasty that ruled the Levant and Mesopotamia from 1127 to 1250, founded by Imad ad-Din Zengi. Zengi became Atabeg of Mosul in 1127 under the Seljuks, but in 1128 he conquered Aleppo from the Artuqids and took the County of Edessa in 1144, establishing a new empire in northern Mesopotamia and Syria. In 1146, Zengi was assassinated by a slave and was succeeded by his sons Nur ad-Din Zengi (ruler of Aleppo) and Saif ad-Din Ghazi I (emir of Mosul). In 1154, the Zengids conquered Damascus from the Burids, and in the 1160s Nur ad-Din competed over influence in the Fatimid Caliphate with King Amalric I of Jerusalem. In 1169, his general Shirkuh became the vizier of the Fatimids, but his death from obesity led to his rebellious nephew Saladin taking power or himself, establishing the Ayyubid Sultanate in Egypt. Nur ad-Din's death in 1174 led to Saladin easily taking over the Zengid dynasty's lands, and in 1183 he captured Aleppo, ending Zengid rule in Syria. The Zengids ruled Mosul until 1234, and their last members died out in 1250.